


fractured

by carleigh_tm



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: I'm not sure how to tag this, Let's see what happens, M/M, a lot of inspo for this comes from other fics ive absorbed into my brain, hinata is overly emotional, i love these idiots more than i can put into words, i want this to be a slow burn but.. i might get impatient, kageyama is bad with emotions, not as much as they love eachother tho hehe, please bear with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:20:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24572173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carleigh_tm/pseuds/carleigh_tm
Summary: hinata's keeping secrets
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Kudos: 23





	fractured

The ball hits the ground with a soft thud. The shrill squeak of well-worn volleyball sneakers fills the air followed by a grunt as the small spiker’s feet hit the ground. Not again. 

Kageyama turns sharply on his heels, a signature scowl creasing his forehead. He takes a single step forward, the sound of his foot hitting the ground echos in the gym for just a moment. Hinata’s head is down. He takes a moment to scowl at him as he inhales fully, chest rising in a draw for enough breath to get his point across. “You…” 

But before he can finish there’s a flash of wild ginger hair and the ball is back in his hands. “Again,” Hinata says firmly, eyes cast downward. He takes a small surprised step backward and doesn’t attempt to finish the insult on the tip of his tongue. There’s no real bite to it, Hinata knows that, but he can tell that it won’t help. 

Hinata sets himself further down the court, the ball goes up and he passes it to Kageyama. The weight of the ball feels different as Kageyama’s hands prepare to set it. He’s not sure what’s going on with Hinata but he tries to push the thought out as he hears the whoosh of the small teen push off the linoleum in one of his classic gravity-defying leaps. This time Hinata’s hand lands squarely against the ball. It blazes downward, flattening on the floor with the force of the spike just before the end-line. 

Yet again, there’s a soft grunt as Hinata lands on his feet. His arm comes up to his chest, the other hand pressing the hand he used for the well-trained spike against his sternum. Kageyama stands there silently. Eyes widening as he realizes that there’s a tremble overcoming Hinata’s body. He doesn’t hear the first sniffle but more come shortly afterward. 

“Um—“ Kageyama is awkward in almost every social interaction. When someone is crying in front of him? Forget it. This is Hinata, though. Had it been anyone else, he would’ve been running to find someone who knew how to help.

He takes a hesitant step forward, “are you…” another small step, there are now tears freely flowing, “is your hand okay?” He asks gruffly. Kageyama doesn’t have it in him to be soft-spoken, or so he thinks. 

Hinata makes a quiet broken noise; followed by a few moments of silence between them. But then his whole demeanor changes as if nothing ever happened. As if he wasn’t just standing there like a small bird with a broken wing, weeping softly, looking utterly helpless. One hand, the good hand, lifts to wipe his face. The other falls to his side. He finally raises his head and Kageyama can finally see his face. There’s a strange flicker in Hinata’s eyes that is gone in a second. If he wasn’t so intently watching the smaller boy he would’ve missed it. Then there’s a toothy grin that is most definitely the most forced smile he’s ever bared witness to. It makes Kageyama’s stomach twist horribly. 

“Sorry!” Hinata chirps. “I think we should lock up now. It’s getting late and I don’t want Coach Ukai to find us and yell at us for practicing on a rest day!” Kageyama blinks, unsure of what he just witnessed. He opens his mouth to speak but he’s not sure what to say. There was unmistakable pain, physical or not, in those shiny brown eyes. Kageyama doesn’t like to pry. He doesn’t like to ask questions; especially when he really, really sucks at helping. Friend or not. But… this is Hinata. His lips press together for a moment, taking a moment to think about how to proceed.

“Is your hand okay?” He asks again, completely ignoring Hinata’s suggestion. The setter puts a hand on his hip, god he’s turning into his mother, and holds out his hand to Hinata. “Let me see it.” It’s a demand, not a strong one, but the look in his eyes is enough to back up how serious he is. 

“I’m fine, Yama! My hand is okay, I swear.” Hinata folds the injured arm behind his back and holds the other one up in surrender. There’s a small sheepish smile on his lips, eyes pinched shut as he attempts to take a step back. Kageyama huffs a short breath and stalks forward until he’s almost toe to toe with the tiny teen. 

“Don’t call me that” he hisses, “I know your hand isn’t fine. Let me see.” Another demand followed by the wiggling of the setter’s fingers, palm flat and open between them. “Give me your hand.”

“N-no! I promise it’s okay! It’s just a little sore, we’ve been practicing our quick attack for three hours. My fingers were just cramping up!” Hinata’s eyes are open now, brown flickering from side to side to plan an escape.

“Bullshit,” He growls, “let. me. see.” He reaches for Hinata’s shoulder and slides his hand down till he can wrap his fingers around a small wrist. There’s a hiss of pain from Hinata’s lips that are pressed together tightly. As Kageyama places the tiny hand on his own much larger palm, he inhales sharply. 

How did he not notice this sooner? There’s deep purple and blue bruising across 4 out of 5 digits. It covers Hinata’s knuckles and halfway up his thin, small fingers. There are broken bones, for sure. The hand is swollen as well. Fingers twice the size they normally are. 

Ah— he knows why he didn’t notice. There was tape covering them, he realizes, as he looks down at the decoy’s other hand that’s now hanging limply at his side. The tape is now lost hanging over the net. Knocked off by the force of the last spike that just occurred. 

“It’s— It’s okay, really, Kageyama.” There’s a slight quiver in Hinata’s voice. Kageyama’s eyes are glued to the purple stain on Hinata’s porcelain white skin. A small bout of anger boils up inside of him, spreading from his toes to the tips of his fingers. He can feel his face heating up with the intensity of it. There are many reasons for him to be angry right now. The most predominant one is perhaps not the most logical one. 

How selfish of Hinata to practice when his hand is in such a state. Doesn’t he know what he’s putting on the line by doing this?! They won’t get to play together ever again if there is irreversible damage done to his hand. No more quick attacks, no more combos, no more crazy spikes. No more sets to the world's smallest spiker who is always so perfectly right there.

He feels his chest heave with the surge of rage. Shoulders flexing as he draws himself backward, Hinata hand falling from his. He sees the small boy begin to tremble again, it shows most obviously in his knees. Kageyama turns his head sharply to the side, nose upturned in disgust and anger. He doesn’t say anything but he probably doesn’t have to. Hinata’s already probably played out the scenario in his head plenty of times by now. That’s why he was hiding the injury. 

“I’m… I’m sorry, Tobio.” The spiker whispers softly, hand raising to his chest again, tucking it in as he had before. It makes him seem even smaller. Kageyama’s expression softens, very minutely, but Hinata surely notices. He lowers his chin and locks eyes with Hinata. The air around them feels static.

“I don’t think you realize how much you’re risking by being this reckless, you gigantic idiot.” Hinata’s eyes glisten, Kageyama decides exactly how he’s going to approach this. “I’m not practicing with you again until you see a doctor for that. I refuse to be responsible for the fall of our decoy.” There’s a little bite to the second part of the declaration. Hinata makes a small noise. That’s how he knows he made the right choice. 

“Yama, no! I need to play volleyball or I’ll die! I will actually die!” Hinata exclaims, now clutching his chest dramatically with the blemish-free hand. He falls to his knees in front of Kageyama, who takes a large step backward. Kageyama rolls his eyes. “I will perish…. Every day I don’t play volleyball is a day closer to death.” There’s a heavy sigh from the setter who rolls his eyes again and starts to walk away. 

“You’ll be fine, get up.” He mutters as he walks cooly over to his bag. “Don’t be so fucking dramatic. And, again, don’t call me that.” He bends to unzip it and pull out his water bottle. He takes a long sip. The redhead still on his knees in the middle of the court.

Hinata slowly rises to his feet again. “Please don’t tell Daichi or Coach Ukai.” It’s a ridiculous request, Kageyama thinks, they’ll surely notice when Hinata’s hand is covered in a plaster cast. At least 2 fingers were broken. He shakes his head incredulously. 

“Sure, dumbass. They’re gonna notice when you don’t show up to practice. Or even better, when you do and they tell you to sit on the sides because you can’t play with a cast.” He chuckles at the thought. Their feud about whoever gets to stay longer on the court will be everlasting. Kageyama doesn’t count this as a win but he’s positive this strikes a chord with the smaller boy. 

“Jerk!” Hinata shouts as he walks to his bag which is on the other side of the court. Kageyama watches him for a moment. He can’t help but wonder what was going through Hinata’s head when he wrapped that hand. The fact that he practiced.. for HOURS.. even with those injuries. Kageyama didn’t even notice until just now. Maybe he’s seriously underestimated the strength that Hinata possesses. No, scratch that, he definitely underestimated Hinata. 

He’s deep in thought when Hinata walks over to him, bag slung over his shoulder. “Wanna go get food?” Hinata asks, head tossed to the side. Kageyama blinks down at him, mind returning to the current moment. He studies the smaller boy's face, pretending to think long and hard about the question. Really, he’s just taking a moment to appreciate the freckles dusting Hinata’s cheeks that are flushed a soft pink from exertion after practice. The look on his face does not give him away. He’s mastered the art of —- whatever you call it… poker face? Yeah, poker face.

After a moment, “I’ll buy you whatever you want since you ditched family dinner to practice with me!” Hinata chirps, a large smile spreading across his face. This time it’s genuine and it makes Kageyama’s heart flutter. Still, his face remains stoic. 

“Sure.” He mumbles and tears his eyes away from Hinata’s face. He really shouldn’t stare so much, especially when Hinata’s usually staring right back. It’s kind of annoying how ‘in your face’ Hinata can be. He probably doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. Idiot. Kageyama huffs his own inward sigh as he turns on his heels. He doesn’t need to look back, he knows Hinata is following right behind him. They shut off the lights and lock up the gym. Hinata pulls on the door with his good hand to double-check that the door is locked properly. He then leaps off of the steps and lands with a puff of dirt dust next to Kageyama. The taller boy scoffs in a moment of annoyance and brushes off his shorts. Hinata laughs. They fall in step easily. 

He wants to ask Hinata about his hand again. It’s annoying him that Hinata won’t just tell him what happened. He’s fairly positive that the other teen injured his hand doing something dumb and he’s avoiding the embarrassment of telling Kageyama. He wouldn’t blame him, honestly. If it is something dumb it would be fresh new teasing material.

There’s a comfortable silence between them. Kageyama’s mind drifting to all of the possible ways Hinata injured his hand. Hinata’s mind focused on trying to figure out how many meat buns are too many meat buns. Eventually, they make it to the shop. As promised, Hinata purchases Kageyama’s dinner and more, stating that he should get a second bottle of his favorite sports drink — “for later” he insisted. 

They eat in silence. Mostly because Hinata is stuffing his face too quickly to allow himself to speak. Kageyama can’t help but watch in horror and awe. He also notices the way Hinata licks his lips after a, particularly large bite, tongue peeking out to catch the sauce in the corner of his mouth. He catches himself staring a little too closely at said lips and his eyes dart away to the concrete path beneath their feet; a blush creeps up his neck to the tip of his nose. 

He clears his throat and turns his head away. “You need to see a doctor about your hand.” Kageyama brings it up again to distract himself from the direction his thoughts were heading in. He hears an annoyed huff from Hinata and he glances over. The redhead’s eyebrows are drawn together and there’s a small pout on his lips. 

“My hand is fine.” He sounds like a petulant child. Hinata isn’t too keen on getting advice from his peer. “I just have to wrap it again. It looks better today than it did the other day.”

“Better? Your hand is completely fucked up.” Kageyama can’t believe that Hinata is trying to play this off. “Don’t be an idiot, just get it checked out.” The small spiker is visibly annoyed that they’re talking about this again. Tobio doesn’t care, though. He doesn’t understand why Hinata can’t see how serious this could get. 

“Why do you even care?” Hinata hisses, looking pissed the fuck off now. Kageyama stops walking, eyes wide— he blinks. That is certainly not the reaction he was expecting. There’s no whine or ridiculous comment about acting like a parent. Hinata’s on the defensive. It’s out of character for the easy-going, energetic, and happy-go-lucky teen. Hinata had stopped walking a few feet in front of him so he’s staring at the trembling body of the shorter boy. Kageyama isn’t even sure what to say. He’s torn between his annoyance and shock. 

Hinata’s head turns slightly, eyes cast over his shoulder. “Just— stop talking about it. I can handle myself.” He starts walking again, not even looking back to see if Kageyama is following. His house is only a few doors down. He pauses for just a moment longer and doesn’t say anything when he starts to walk again. He just barely catches up to Hinata without actually running. 

He opens his mouth to speak but they’re a few steps away from his house and Hinata’s already speaking. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class.” Hinata mutters, glancing back at him, an unreadable look in his eyes. Very rarely is Kageyama stunned silent. Usually, his silence comes naturally due to his aloof personality. This time though the lack of retort on his end is purely because of the way Hinata’s been acting. The food that he ate so contently before now sits like a heavy stone in his stomach. Something isn’t right with Hinata, there’s something he’s not telling him. 

Kageyama watches Hinata's fiery orange hair flicker out in the distance. Once the smaller teen is out of view he finally steps towards his front door and retreats inside. His mind is racing with all of the possibilities of what the hell is going on with Hinata... and how he can possibly become enlightened to the truth. Obviously, Hinata doesn't trust him as much as Kageyama thought he did. They've never explicitly discussed their friendship but they've never had to. Aside from it being years ahead of their emotional maturity -- it was always the simple unspoken truth that since they are so in sync on the court they must also be in day-to-day life. Kageyama has never doubted that, until now. 


End file.
